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Owners of Mocomanto—a nearly 125-year-old Victorian home in the estate section of Southampton Village, on Lake Agawam—could be a step closer to approval for an expansion within the guidelines enforced by the Village Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation.
For nearly a year, neighbors of Mocomanto have expressed strong opposition to homeowner Ken Fox’s plans of nearly doubling the size of the home at 472 First Neck Lane, which have been presented and fought for by a team of lawyers, architects and historians. Last week, the most recent round of changes appear to have gained the support of the village ARB’s architectural consultant, Zachary Studenroth.
Mr. Studenroth, who issued a report on Friday, said the most recent round of changes may “strike a balance” of “creating a larger home while preserving the significant fabric of the original house.”
The two-page report issued by Mr. Studenroth had only two recommendations for Mr. Fox and his team: reduce the number of windows on the eastern facade of the two-story addition to fewer than four, and reduce the length of, or eliminate, a single-story portion of the extension.
“These changes to the design could bring the proposed addition(s) into conformity with the documented history as well as the preservation objectives for this significant Southampton Village landmark,” Mr. Studenroth concluded in his report.
Over the weekend, Southampton Village-based attorney John Bennett, who is representing Mr. Fox, and Lisa Zaloga, the architect working on the project, reduced the number of windows on the eastern facade of the two-story addition to three, spacing them out, and swung the one-story addition around to the western side of the home in an effort to comply with the report. Ms. Zaloga said people will not be able to see the single-story addition from Lake Agawam because of the move.
The original plans for the project called for an L-shaped addition to the current home with a glass connector. But in November, ARB members said that they did not like the modern look of the extension. In response, Mr. Fox’s team created plans for an addition more reminiscent of the photos of Mocomanto dating to the 1920s.
“The new addition is a clear and decisive change from the prior design, in which the house was incorporated into a plan that extended it on one story to the north, linking it to a large, two-story garage wing with dormers, facade gables and roof lines intended to emulate the architecture of the main house,” Mr. Studenroth said in his report. “In the new design, the original house is substantially preserved as before … The proposed plan takes for inspiration a north addition documented by historic maps and photographs to have been built in the late 19th century.”
Mr. Fox attended Monday night’s ARB meeting and explained to the board that he purchased the home because of the history behind it and because he would get joy out of restoring it.
While the plans have changed drastically throughout the review processes by village regulatory boards, Mr. Fox said he expected input from the community going in, and that it would result in a home that both he and the community would love.
“We ended up making modifications to the plans that we originally filed with the Zoning Board of Appeals … restoring it to its quirky, funky spot that it’s in now,” Mr. Fox told ARB members. “We think that the new design, that’s really based exclusively on your input, is great, and we’re excited about it.”
The new plans were submitted to the record on Monday, and board members said they needed time to review them before commenting.
ARB member Susan Stevenson said she was concerned that basing changes on photos of a home that had been modified numerous times by the 1920s, and was built in the 1880s, does not represent the true historical nature of the home.
The application was adjourned, and is expected to be discussed again at the next ARB meeting at Village Hall on February 12 at 7 p.m.
on Jan 24, 2018